Real men are gray-haired in their 20s.
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Rank: Medium-in-training
Joined: Fri Sep 11, 2009 3:03 am
Posts: 566
Ooh, top 10 lists! These are my picks, in no particular order:
(Note: If my long explanations of why I chose my picks bore you, skip 'em! I just wanted to explain my choices.)
Mario Kart 64Why: Most people who loved this series years ago still love it today. Me, not so much...I eventually realized it's just not very fun when you don't have people to play it with. Years ago, though, my siblings and I still lived together at home, and we made some wonderful memories. Even my father got in on the fun, and believe me, he is NOT a gamer, so the fact that this game was able to do that will always guarantee it a place in my heart.
Aside from the personal connections, I still love all the characters' voice acting, items had not yet over-saturated the gameplay, the tracks were great fun (anyone remember racing on Toad's Turnpike on "Extra Mode" [i.e. reversed tracks]...with ALL THE TRAFFIC heading toward you?), the music was wonderful, and the Battle Mode courses were comic
gold. That's right, just sit up there on top of the Block Fort, planted right in the middle of that Item Box, shooting shells like a madman down to the ground floor. No one will ever hunt you dow...OH CRAP!
Metroid PrimeWhy: Metroid Prime 2 was actually my first Metroid game. I played through the whole thing, but I never found myself thinking, "Man, this game is awesome!" By most game journalists' accounts, if I hadn't enjoyed Prime 2, there was basically no chance I'd enjoy the original. For whatever reason, I decided to screw that line of thinking (a $4 price tag probably helped!) and give the original Prime a spin.
The difference between my experiences was like freaking night and day. Pretty much the
whole time I was playing Prime 1, I was just like, "Holy crap, this game is so awesome, nice graphics, great music, fun powerups, cool environments, AAAAHHHHH!!!" So why did I enjoy Prime 1, but not Prime 2? Even now, I don't really know. I don't have to, though. All I need to know is that the original Prime is just one of the most enjoyable games I've ever played, period.
The World Ends With YouWhy: I've never been able to get very interested in Square's Final Fantasy series. I'm sure many of the games are very enjoyable, but I always seem to get turned off at the thought of playing through some over-the-top (not in a good way) story with a gameplay/combat system that's too intricate for my tastes. (Final Fantasy XII has been the exception in terms of catching my interest, but that's another story). This is why it only took the
visual flair of TWEWY to pique my curiosity.
I was not disappointed. The story is interesting without being too overwrought or complex, the writing is excellent, the graphics are beautiful, and the music is spectacular and does a great job of establishing the game's flavor. Most importantly, the gameplay/combat system was always just
fun! There aren't many games that I enjoyed playing
so much that I wanted to unlock/find just about everything there was (and in this game, that amounted to quite a bit of stuff), but this was one of them. The news that
Tetsuya Nomura would love to make a sequel is great to hear. My only concern is that the original was so dang PERFECT that any sequel is pretty much guaranteed to be a step down!
Super Smash Bros. MeleeWhy: There was a time in the late 90s and early 2000s when I didn't really keep up with gaming news. I was only dimly aware of the Gamecube's release. I had, however, previously managed to procure a copy of Super Smash Bros. for the N64, and I LOVED it. Well, somewhere in there, I heard that there was a sequel to Super Smash Bros., and that it was on the Gamecube. My immediate mental response: "I need a Gamecube."
So yeah, I originally got my Gamecube just for Melee. I literally needed NO other reason. And it exceeded expectations I didn't even have. Gorgeous renderings of characters and stages (I still think so today, even compared to Brawl), 50 billion gameplay additions, awesome trophies, phenomenal music--it just had everything. I still value the original Smash, but Melee has to be my favorite. Brawl? Ehh...it can go sit in the corner by itself.
Mario RPG series Why: If the apprehension of too-deep, too melodramatic RPGs is my problem, the Mario RPG series has been my sweet, sweet solution. The good Mario RPGs address just about every RPG concern or dislike of mine: no ridiculous stories (although I'll forever argue that The Thousand Year Door has the best story of ANY Mario game to date), no arcane gameplay/combat systems, dialogue that never takes itself too seriously, and good graphics. I have to add the caveat that the last one that I really enjoyed was The Thousand Year Door. Everything since--from Partners In Time up to Bowser's Inside Story--has disappointed me, but Paper Mario 3DS looks set to remind me why I loved these games in the first place.
Super Mario WorldWhy: One of the first games I can remember playing, and I started when I was 2! There's no way I'll ever be able to remember what I thought of it at the time, which I deeply regret, but I can say this: I continued to be interested in playing video games for a reason, and I believe this game had a great deal to do with that. 2-D gaming at its finest, with fun, colorful graphics, a memorable soundtrack, and a crapload of secrets and extra levels to discover, this game is locked in eternal combat with Super Mario 64 to claim the prize as my favorite game of all time.
Super Mario 64Why: Unlike with Mario World, I distinctly remember this one. My brother and I woke up one Christmas morning to find a new N64 under the stockings and a copy of Super Mario 64. He set up the system in minutes, and the next thing I knew, he had scaled the mountain in Bob-omb Battlefield and had claimed his first star from King Bob-omb. When the princess's voice told us we could now open a new door, I was annoyed when he promptly jumped back into Bob-omb Battlefield to see what else there was to see. (This clear difference in our play styles only became more apparent to me in the future.)
Sorry for that extra-long reminiscence. The point is, this game achieved that difficult status of being enjoyable to just run around aimlessly and do what you want (and doing what you were
supposed to be doing was pretty dang fun too). The worlds were unquestionably finite, the exploration and discovery had to come to an end at some point. But they were big enough and fun enough for that to not matter. Put that together with amazing (at least at the time) graphics and music that still holds up today, and you've got a monument in gaming.
Shigeru Miyamoto has said before that the element of control is the most important part of a game's design, and if that isn't fun, then the game won't be fun. Well, all I gotta say is, he nailed it here more than in any of his other games, past or future. In terms of the openness and potential for exploration, I can never express how sorry I am that he apparently thought it would be better to go in the complete opposite direction, if the Galaxy games are any indication. (And no, I don't consider those "open-world" levels equivalent to anything in 64.) I can only hope that now Galaxy 2 is out, they've finally "used up" their ideas for that gameplay system, and are working to come up with a new one.
Chrono TriggerWhy: Chrono Trigger, speaking purely in terms of function, satisfies me in the same ways the Mario RPGs do, except most gamers actually respect this one as a real RPG. My brother spent some years urging me to play this game, but I never agreed, essentially for the reasons I've mentioned. When I finally caved in and gave it a try, I was blown away on all counts: fantastic graphics, an interesting-yet-not-overwrought story, wonderfully written dialogue and memorable characters, a streamlined yet enjoyable gameplay/combat system, and what I personally consider to be the single best soundtrack ever composed for a video game.
I doubt another RPG will ever touch me like this one did, but then again, I haven't played the Mother series, so there's still hope.
Ace Attorney series(Just to clarify, I
don't include GK in this. It was okay, but I don't think it approached the greatness of the main series.)
Why: I had been aware of this series for a while after the first game came out here, but I never really checked it out. My brother gave it his seal of approval, though, and thanks to Chrono Trigger, I take notice when he recommends a game.
To make a huge understatement, I'm glad I did in this case. I consider the Ace Attorney series to be, quite simply, my best personal game discovery for the WHOLE DECADE. The art style, the gripping cases and stories, the tight dialogue and characterization--I fell into this world like I only do for a few other games (NOT coincidentally, you can find just about all the other examples on this list). It is for this reason, unfortunately, that every day I don't hear about GS5 is like a day where all does not feel right with the world, because GS4 was
not a proper conclusion to the series, period. Keiji Inafune's comments about trying to inspire Takumi back into the main series have given me hope, though. I gotta say, though, waiting for news on GS5...it's like waiting for the second coming of Christ, except worse, because I don't actually expect Christ to come back any time soon. And in GS5's case, it may never even come to pass...
Sonic 3 and KnucklesWhy: I haven't played Sonic 4 or Sonic Colors, so maybe I'm behind, but for the most part, Sonic as a quality series is little more than a distant dream of days gone by for many gamers, myself included. As to which entry was the best, fans will fight long and hard over that one, but my choice has always been easy: Sonic 3 locked onto Sonic and Knuckles. I always considered it the pinnacle of the series in virtually all respects: graphics, music, level design, the works. (I have to cede multiplayer to Sonic 2, though. Oh, the times my brother and I have shared...)
Honorable mention: Hotel DuskWhy: Hotel Dusk is just not the right kind of game for a lot of gamers out of there (neither is Ace Attorney, for that matter), but the things it does REALLY well, I tend to value in games: beautiful music, even more beautiful (if that's possible) character art, and a story that grabbed me by the throat and didn't let go until the very end, with impeccable dialogue to match. I'd say the only reason it's not on the main list is because it's not exactly the gamiest game out there, and I felt like I had to give slight precedence to the games that actually have more, well,
gameplay to them. Make no mistake though, this really is right up there with my top 10.
Well, that's my list. Don't feel pressured to read through all that mess, though, I just wanted to put it there.